Skip to main content

TrueCredit and Confession

I would like to thank SingleGuyMoney for his post on TrueCredit. TrueCredit basically gives you access to all 3 credit reports and all 3 credit scores. They also have other cool features like debt-to-income analysis, available credit, and so on. If you go straight to their site the service is $14.95 a month. But if you go through Walmart Financial Services you can get the same service for $11.21 a month. For $11.21 a month I can monitor my credit report and scores. I think thats a great trade off.

*deep breath*

I have a confession to make. I have not been on my credit debt reduction game like I should be. I mean I paid down $3000 of it late February when I first began. But I seem to have added an additional $1500 since March. And I can't even tell yall where all that money came from. I have no clue.............well I have a clue but not any one thing I can put my finger on. UGH!! I am so frustrated with myself. I am starting to repeat exactly what I did a year ago.

Last year in May I went to my credit union and applied for a personal loan. I had a lil under $10,000 of credit card debt and I wanted to pay it off with a personal loan. Reason being that I would have a lower interest rate on the loan compared to the 25% or higher APR on my cards. This would allow me to save a lot of money over the course of my repayment and a personal loan didn't affect your credit report or score as much as credit card debt. I got approved for the loan (16% APR) and paid off every single credit card. Then I went and cut up my cards so I wouldn't have access to them. You would think that would be the end of it right? Wrong! Oh so very wrong! Guess what you don't need when shopping online?? A physical credit card. Like I said before, I have an awesome memory when it comes to numbers. And I had memorized bout 5 credit card numbers of the 12 plus I had. Needless to say I racked up $8000 in debt by that following December. So now I had a $10,000 personal loan and $8000 in credit card debt. I can see yall shaking yall heads right now........*sigh*.

All I can say is that after 5 years of being a broke single mother/college student I got thrown into a situation where I felt like I needed to "look" the part in order to fit in. I was trying to "keep up with the Joneses" as they say. I was stupid when it came to my finances and I am paying dearly for that stupidity now. I can not and WILL not be in debt for the rest of my life. I am going to have to take another look at the credit card debt payoff plan that I have right now and probably revamp it.......a lot. I need to be more aggressive in my debt elimination as I am in my savings.

Even though I want to enjoy myself and live comfortably I may have to cut back on that spending account that I have and redirect majority of that extra money to my debt. I would rather sacrifice for a year and be debt free. I will still have a lil to spend for myself but only on important things like hair care and gym membership (they are important to me anyways...lol).

Whew! That's enough confessions for one day. :-D

Comments

SavingDiva said…
I also have recently run up a bit of credit card debt. I'm going to pay it off within the next few month, but I can't believe I let it happen again. About $20 of my hard earned money is going to interest every month. I just HATE that! Good luck with your cc paydown.
Rad said…
Girl everybody slips from time to time, at least you realized it. I was going to do a post on the same thing. The car and the baby's birthday and a few other things have added up to about $600 in the hole. I'm doing mine tommorow, looks like its confession week :) Repent girl, REPENT :) Keep hustlin and you'll be back on your game.
Dimples said…
@ saving diva

Thanks girl. I can't believe I let it happen either. But we live and we learn and we continue.

@ rad

Tis the season to confess. LOL. We gotta keep the hustle up and keep going for the gold. We got sweet pea and mcnugget to think of. :-D
Anonymous said…
Good Evening my friend, I would like to say that you are a perfect example of what others have been through. Discipline is one of the top things that we have to learn and put in process. I admire the fact that you can be honest about your situation and it seems to me that maybe you are going to fast. You will live comfortably but it will take time to get there and by rushing it keeps us from being focus on what our goal are. You are off to a great start but don't overdo it. Keep up the good work! luv ya!
Unknown said…
Dimples I agree with you. The sacrifice will be well worth it. Now drill that thought into my head. The little things tend to trip me up. You know the incidentals like going to Target, Kroger, Walgreens it's like crack I tell you. :O). Anywho. You can do it especially with these hustles you got going right now girl. You should be able to anihilate (?sp) that debt and be on vaca next year with your girls all paid for in cash money.

D.C.
SingleGuyMoney said…
The first step to recovery is confession. As you know from my blog, I had the same problem. I confessed it and now I (hopefully) will not do it again. Reality is like that real good spanking you got from your parents!
P.S. Thanks for the shoutout!
Single Ma said…
Confessions are cleansing. Now breathe, assess the situation, and develop a plan. A plan to pay off the debt AND a plan to address the underlying cause for accumulating the debt. Can't find a solution until we address the real problem right? I know you can do it mama. Keep being honest and holding yourself accountable. Good luck!
Dimples said…
@ D.C.

I feel you on that. It will be hard but well worth it in the end. You can do it. I can't wait to be free of this mess. Then I can work on just enjoying life.

@ SingleGuyMoney

Reality whooped my tail today. Whooped it good.

@ Single Ma

Developing a plan at this very moment. Now the underlying cause? I gotta look more into that. I think I have a finger on what it is but I am not a 100% sure. I'll figure it out tho. And once I do maybe I can reign in my spending madness.
Wooly Woman said…
I think we all have bumps in the road, I completing understand what you are going through. It is such a new mindset to start thinking of NOT spending when you see "the Joneses" with all the latest gadgets. But you are right, one year of sacrifice will be worth it in the end! Good Luck!

Popular posts from this blog

Home Purchase Plan - How I faired

Back in January I developed my Home Purchase Plan (HPP for short). I listed exactly what I was looking for in my new home including my needs and wants. I printed up my HPP and carried it will me everywhere. I especially took it with me when I went house hunting with my agent. I had a momentary relapse (I'll explain more on that on another post) but got back on track and stuck to my guns. I ended up with a beautiful house that fits all my needs and wants. HOME PURCHASE PLAN The home I want: Price: $0 -> $190,000 $180,000 Ideal Monthly Mortgage (including taxes, PMI, HOA, & hazard) : $1200 (max $1300) $1310 Location: Surrounding Orlando Area Check Bedrooms: 3+ 4 Bathrooms: 2+ 2 Square footage: 1700 s.f. + 1810 sf Year Built: 2000+ 1998 HOA: $100/month max $150/yr NEEDS: * A-rated school district Check * Quick access to major highways Check * Good daycare Check * Nice

My $100 grocery budget and tips for saving on your grocery bill

I did a post back in October on how I kept my grocery budget under $120. In that post, I had pictures of the grocery shopping I had done earlier in the day for a total of $29.76. I also listed a number of ways I keep my grocery budget so low. Today I did some grocery shopping for meat and some other misc items. Here is what I bought: - 2 packages of chicken breasts - 2 packages of drumsticks - 2 whole hens - 2 packages of chicken wings - 1 bag of roma tomatoes - 1 bag of onions - 1 bag of organic baby carrots - 2 gallons of water (not shown) - 1 bottle of bbq sauce Total = $24.90 One big way to save on groceries each month is to package the food you buy into servings sizes. Your serving size depends on how many people are in your family. I separate out my sizes based on how much food my daughter and I consume in one meal. Take for instance drumsticks: My daughter will eat one drumstick while I will eat two. So I package those in threes. I know some folks are visual so here is wh